Music from Greater China

Oct 07, 2015

"Music from Greater China - Past and Present" was the theme of an event series with the ensemble 3peoplemusic taking place in Heidelberg from October 4 to 7. The Taiwanese musicians gave a concert at the Ethnological Museum and framed a tea ceremony at the Institute of Sinology as well as the opening of the Annual Conference at the Alte Aula. The events were organised by Prof. Barbara Mittler and presented within the Taiwan Spotlight program.

The first concert on Sunday, October 4, started at 11 am and took place at the Ethnological Museum Heidelberg. Under the title "Musik aus China - Gestern und Heute", the three musicians from 3peoplemusic, Min-chin Kuo (Guzheng), Chung Jen (Dizi), Szu-ya Cho (Ruan), together with Ying-chieh Wang (Erhu), and Shih-Yun Liao (Sheng), performed traditional and contemporary experimental Chinese music. The concert was accompanied by a session introducing the traditional instruments.

"Scales of Aromatic Taste - Taiwan Tea in the Context of International Trade" was the title of the second event beginning on Wednesday afternoon at 2 pm. It took place at the Institute of Sinology, room 136. A traditional tea ceremony open for participation by the audience was staged with Prof. Kai-Hsien Chen from National Taiwan University. He introduced the history of Taiwan's international tea trade and the criteria for making and tasting Taiwan tea. The ceremony was accompanied by Min-chin Kuo on the Guzheng and Chung Jen on the Dizi.

Finally, the series concluded with a performance framing the opening ceremony of the Cluster's Annual Conference including a keynote lecture by Prof. George Marcus (UCI). The event took place on Wednesday evening in the Alte Aula of Heidelberg University. The ensemble 3peoplemusic was joined by Ying-chieh Wang and Shih-Yun Liao.

3peoplemusic are the three young musicians Min-chin Kuo, Chung Jen, and Szu-ya Cho playing the Chinese zither Guzheng, the lute Zhong Ruan, and the Chinese bamboo flutes Di and Xiao.